h-western France, rising at a
height of 5640 ft. on the Puy-de-Sancy, a mountain of the department of
Puy-de-Dome, and flowing to the Garonne with which it unites at Bec
d'Ambes to form the Gironde estuary. It has a length of 295 m. and the
area of its basin is 9214 sq. m. Descending rapidly from its source,
sometimes over cascades, the river soon enters deep gorges through which
it flows as far as Beaulieu (department of Correze) where it debouches
into a wide and fertile valley and is shortly after joined by the Cere.
Entering the department of Lot, it abandons a south-westerly for a
westerly course and flowing in a sinuous channel traverses the
department of Dordogne, where it receives the waters of the Vezere.
Below the town of Bergerac it enters the department of Gironde, where at
Libourne it is joined by the Isle and widens out, attaining at its union
with the Garonne 45 m. from the sea a width of nearly 3300 yds. A few
miles above this point the river is spanned by the magnificent bridges
of Cubzac-les-Ponts, which carry a road and railway. Below its
confluence with the Vezere, over the last 112 m. of its course, the
river carries considerable navigation. The influence of the highest
tides is felt at Pessac, a distance of 100 m. from the ocean.

DORDOGNE, an inland department of south-western France, formed in 1790
from nearly the whole of Perigord, a part of Agenais, and small portions
of Limousin and of Angoumois. Area 3560 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 447,052. It
is bounded N. by Haute-Vienne, W. by Charente, Charente-Inferieure and
Gironde, S. by Lot-et-Garonne, and E. by Lot and Correze. Situated on
the western slopes of the Massif Central, Dordogne consists in the
north-east and centre of sterile plateaus sloping towards the west,
where they end in a region of pine forests known as the Double. The
greatest altitudes are found in the highlands of the north, where many
points exceed 1300 ft. in height. The department is intersected by many
fertile and beautiful river valleys, which converge from its northern
and eastern borders towards the south-west. The Dordogne is the
principal river of the department and its chief affluent is the Isle,
which crosses the centre of the department and flows into the Dordogne
at Libourne, in the neighbouring department of Gironde. The Dronne and
the Auvezere, both tributaries of the Isle, are the other main rivers.
The climate is generally agreeable and healthy, but rather humid,